


Adventure of a Vampire Witch

by Xareeya



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling, Warcraft - All Media Types
Genre: Action & Romance, Adventure & Romance, Character Turned Into Vampire, F/F, Female Harry Potter, Lesbian Character, Not Canon Compliant, Older Harry Potter, Other, POV Harry Potter, Smart Harry Potter, Strong Female Characters, Strong Harry Potter, Unreliable Narrator
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-03
Updated: 2021-03-09
Packaged: 2021-03-14 09:28:47
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 17,369
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29168847
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Xareeya/pseuds/Xareeya
Summary: A great witch. A vampire. A monster. All thing used to describe her. Helena Black was done with it all. After an unusual event leaves her stranded and lost, she must use everything she has to survive.
Relationships: Harry Potter/Original Female Character(s)
Comments: 8
Kudos: 37





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first work, inspired by Wizard Runemaster the author plums on ff.net  
> This idea has been on my mind for quite a while, and with the new Resident evil Village demo out, and the craze with the Lady Dimitrescu started, I got pulled into it and my idea got a totally different spin to it.  
> Let me know your though and impressions in the comments, and if you have any kind of advice or criticism, I welcome you to share it.  
> That being said, enjoy.

I sipped at my wine as I stood staring out the window. 

The sun set a few hours ago, letting the moon take its place. Street was covered in darkness, with occasional lamp posts illuminating small patches of ground and adjacent houses. With peeling paints, dull old windows and piles of trash at most of the front steps, the Grimmauld street and it's houses looked as unwelcoming as ever. 

The faint sound of bare feet on the floor shook me from my musings. Not taking my eyes from the outside world, I heard her approach, then saw her as she came in front of me. Without a word, she pushed the bottle of wine and a book to the side, then sat her bare ass on the oak table under the window. 

I said nothing, merely watched as she leaned her back on the wall and brought one of her knees to her chest. She combed her fingers through her messy blonde hair as she tucked it behind her ear, then placed a cigarette in her mouth. There was a moment as she looked around, then a groan as the realization set in.

"Can you …?" she trailed off, gesturing at her mouth. I snapped my fingers in front of her in response, and a small flame appeared in my palm, which she used to light up her cigarette.

"So, 35 years old, huh?" she asked, exhaling smoke in the process.

"Thirty four actually." I corrected. Merlin does time fly.

"It feels like yesterday I was in school, studying and fooling around." And fighting for my life. My time at Hogwarts was far from normal.

"Ooh, that reminds me. Some woman approached me yesterday, wanting to give you a message through me."

I blinked, momentarily lost. It was ridiculous. This woman, Rosie, is a prostitute. My personal one, but the point still stands. Our only interactions are good fucking and some small talk, like this one for example. There were plenty of other ways to reach me.

Unless, I thought, the approach itself was a message of its own. Wouldn't be the first time some cunt decided to target those close to me.

"Who was it?" I asked. ;

"Some stuck up bitch, weird name, H-something and, uh, Granger I think."

Fuck. Fuck her and her meddling. 

"You should've seen her face," Rosie laughed, "when she realized I was a whore. Like she sucked on a lemon." 

I watched as Rosie tried to imitate Granger's face, likely trying to make me laugh, but I wasn't in the mood. Granger was clearly trying to cross the line I placed. Again.

"You don't look happy hearing about her. Nope. Not at all. Bad blood between the two of you?" she asked.

I snorted. Bad blood. If only. I drank from the glass, and upon emptying it, I placed it on the table. I took two steps backwards, until I was in the center of the room, bare toes curling in the rich carpet. I spread my hands and twirled in place, displaying myself in an exaggerated fashion. 

"Tell me, what do you see when you look at me?" I asked, once I faced Rosie again.

She tilted her head sideways, her gray eyes scanning me head to toe, once, then twice.

"One hot, sexy lady with tits the size of my head," she said, and I smirked at her briefly, "but I'm guessing that's not what you mean. What I see is an nine feet tall woman, who just happens to be a vampire." 

"True. Simply spoken but true. And Granger is partly at fault for me being this way." 

"Really?" she asked. "She did that to you? How?"

"Arrogance and stubbornness." I bit out. It was still a sore subject to talk about, even if years passed since it happened. "Do you want the long story, or the short version of it?"

"I'm sorry, but keep it short. I have business to do in the morning." she said, sounding guilty.

"No need to be sorry." I told her and took a deep breath. "We were friends, Granger and I, best of friends actually. We did everything together. Everything. We learned magic, broke rules, painted each other's nails till midnight. We faced danger together. Saved my godfather from fate worse than death. We were inseparable. And then, suddenly, we were not inseparable anymore." 

"What happened?" she asked.

"The end of my fourth year at Hogwarts." I replied. "It all went downhill from there. The school year was over, with Voldemort returned from the dead and a friend of mine dead as the result. I thought I was at the lowest point in my life back then, but I would soon realize that you can always go lower." 

I went back to my spot at the window, next to Rosie, and refilled my glass of wine. Rosie's hand grabbed my wrist, her thumb gently rubbing my skin, offering silent comfort.

"I was left alone." I continued. "Alone, afraid and confused. Isolated at my cousins home with no contact with anyone. Not a single letter received, and not a single response from the ones I sent. And then, July 31st 1995. My fifteenth birthday. Still no contact from my friends." I chuckled, bitterly. "The same could not be said for my enemies. I was furious that day, angry at everyone and anything, and I went outside. My cousin Dudley and two of his friends found me and cornered me in the park. Wanted to beat me up, like when we were younger. They didn't get the chance. A vampire appeared, and tore them apart." I snapped my fingers. "Just like that. One moment, I was getting ready to be beaten up, and in the next, a vampire had her fangs in my throat. Next thing I know I'm waking up, a vampire myself."

"Sounds tough."

"It was. I'll spare you the details of my first days as a vampire, and focus on the Granger part. Our friendship was never the same after that. I found out that the reason she ignored me is because Headmaster Dumbledore asked it. She never even questioned it. Just did as she was told. I didn't like her as much as I used to after that. We were still friends, but it wasn't the same as before, and she knew it. Oh, how she knew it."

"What happened next?"

"She tried to fix it. Stubborn as a Gryffindor. She knew she fucked up by ignoring me, and she took my transformation into a vampire personally. Refused to let me handle it alone. She decided to stick by my side no matter what. I admit, it did work after a while. Until shit happened again." I sighed. " She made a cure."

"A cure?" Rosie blurted out, surprised. "I didn't know there was a cure for vampirism."

"There isn't. But she thought she invented it. She has been working on it since day one, thinking she could cure me. She read text after text, made calculation after calculation, until she made a potion that would restore my humanity. She presented me with the potion almost two years after I was bitten, so sure of herself and confident it would work. I, on the other hand, was sceptical and refused to drink it. She argued, but I didn't want to hear it."

"I think I can see where this is going. Fuck. She slipped you the potion, didn't she?"

"She did. She was so confident in her own smarts that there wasn't a single thought in her mind that said it wouldn't work. The potion was based on giant blood, and I had a bad reaction to it. The agony I went through as my body changed its shape is something I wouldn't wish on anybody." 

A kiss on my knuckles shook me. Rosie, offering silent comfort as she always did. It's one of the things I liked the most about her.

"I'm sorry you had to go through that." 

"I got used to it." I shrugged.

"Want me to stay over?" she asked, in a seductive tone. "I can postpone my thing, and we can spend the night cuddling. Or fucking the pain away."

A tempting offer. Very tempting. But not something I wanted. 

"Not this time" I said, shaking my head. "I need some time to myself. Figure out what to do with Granger again."

"Alright. I'll leave you to it."

I watched as she went to the bed and picked up her clothes. It didn't take her long to dress herself. Lace panties, skirt, a sweater and heels. She smacked my ass as she passed me, and with a smirk on her face and a wave she went out the door. 

I groaned and pinched the bridge of my nose. What was I thinking? Digging up old wounds and confiding in a prostitute. What a mess. A mess I decided to deal with later. Right now, I needed to relax a bit. Enjoy myself. A nice soak would do. 

I grabbed the bottle of wine, less than half full, and with a wave of my hand, my wand came shooting out of somewhere right into my hand. I made my way out of the bedroom, into the gloomy and long hallway. From the third floor, where my bedroom was, I went down the stairs, towards the ground floor, where the bathroom was. 

The bathroom was the one room in this house that was dramatically different from others. Where the Grimmauld place can be described as dark, gloomy and old fashioned, this room was its opposite. Large open space, with white marble walls, wide mirrors and lots of light. It gave the room quite the positive atmosphere, at least in my opinion. 

I placed the bottle at the edge of the tub, which was big enough for several people, and made anti-clockwise motions with my wand. Several faucets began running hot water into the tub. It will take a moment or two for it to be filled up. In the meantime, I placed my wand next to the bottle, and went to the nearby mirror. One motion with my hand and the loose, revealing silken robe that showed more than it hid opened up and fell from my shoulders. I watched the nude reflection of myself.

That was me. Thirty four years old. I trailed my eyes down my form. At nine feet tall, I towered over almost anyone. I had a very unnaturally pale skin tone and almost glowing amber eyes, a result of my unique vampirism. My body was soft and curvy, somewhat flat stomach leading to wide hips and round tight ass. My breasts however, were quite big and tear shaped. Whether they were a result of genetics or my mutations I didn't know, but I liked them, even if they sometimes seemed too big to me and drew unwanted eyes to me. 

Steam curling and slight fogging of the mirror drew my mind away from my self examination. The tub was almost full, steam rising from it continuously. 

Immediately, I went in, sprawling myself in it, only my head above the water. The hot water felt heavenly on my skin. I reached for the bottle of wine, and took a large gulp of it. Right now, it was time for relaxation. I leaned my head backwards, and reached for my wand. A muttered spell later, and the water bubbled all around me, providing a sensation of massage all over my body. Tucking my wand behind my ear, I closed my eyes and just….enjoyed myself.

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

An awful feeling startled me out of my watery nap. Chills erupted all over my skin, and my chest felt like an empty pit growing by the seconds. It felt like an attack, something that shouldn't be possible here. Not this easily at least. Certainly not on one of the houses belonging to the noble and most ancient house of Black. What was possible and what wasn't didn't matter now though.

I was being attacked at this very moment. Magic, dark and foul and so toxic, was latching onto my own, encompassing me and getting stronger by the second. I tried my best to fight it off and break its hold, to no avail. The more it gripped me, the less of my magic I felt.

I swear, whoever was doing this will have a painful death.

As the foul magic grip got stronger and stronger, I desperately tried to think of a way to break it. Few rituals came to mind, but not one of them could be prepared fast enough. Apparition was out of the way as well. If this magic, a curse most likely, was able to target me through the protective wards of this home, then there was no place safe enough.

"Fucking hell!" I growled, useless as it wholly enveloped me. It built itself up and up, like a symphony reaching its peak. When it did reach its peak, it hooked itself into me, jagged and toxic, making me scream, before it harshly pulled. It pulled, instead of ripping like I thought.

Not a curse then. A transportation. That meant that the caster was likely on the other side. That means there will be a fight, because there was no way in hell I would let someone grab me like that and get away. I will tear them apart. I steeled myself, ruthlessly clamping down on the nausea the travel induced, a travel that was worse than apparition, floo and portkey combined. I never had luck with magical travel.

This one proved no different, as it released me after about a half of a minute of travelling through it. My body made a loud, dull sound as it harshly impacted the ground, and pain made itself known. Not that I cared at the moment. 

The sight before me, as I got into a kneeling position, made my blood boil and every war time instincts rear their head. A dreadlord laughing his ass off. Burning Legion. I didn't waste time. I rolled to my right, where my wand fell of from my ear, then jumped further, away from the jagged symbols on the ground in the shape of a ritual circle. Standing on something even remotely resembling a ritual was just asking for trouble.

The dreadlord, having stopped his cliché laughter, stared at me in what I thought was confusion. But he wasn't confused enough to get hit by my spell as he dodged my bombarda aimed at his face. If only it was that easy. 

I ignored the implication of fighting a member of the Burning Legion and what it meant, and focused on the actual fight to come. I was nude, wet and had only my wand and claws to fight against what seemed to be an exhausted dreadlord, if the sweat on his face was any indication. Best not to count on it, as knowing these fuckers he could very well be faking it in order to lull me into a false sense of security. 

I heard the sound of buzzing, and rolled to the side, avoiding the swarm of insects he sent in a line. He was shouting something, but I didn't bother to cast a translation charm on myself. There was no use in understanding someone soon to be dead. Especially if it was a demon. I sent two rapid bombardas, one at him and the other where I thought he would dodge. The later one hit.

His chestplate cracked and he snarled something, sending yet another swarm and a bolt of shadow magic. I dodged both, and then something hit me in the back, knocking me on the ground as it exploded. Ignoring the pain I quickly got up, looking for a source of it. It was a green skinned being, with boar like tusks protruding out of his mouth. He was in the process of creating a ball of fire in his hands when my cutting charm connected with his neck, leaving a deep gouge gushing with blood. 

Movement of the corner of my eye snapped me back to my original opponent, who was now close enough to swipe at me with his hands. I cursed myself for allowing myself to be distracted from such a dangerous foe as a strike against my wrist sent my wand flying away from me. I should have never taken my eyes from him, should have known the slippery bastard would try to distract me. The dreadlord, slightly taller than me, was fast enough to keep me on my toes. We were locked in a kind of a morbid dance, with him swiping at me and me dodging him. He kept swiping in such a manner that I wasn't able to counterattack, not with my hands, and certainly not with my wandless spells. 

Our dance was broken, when I jumped away from one his swipes and landed on a pile of skulls, and stumbled. Fuck my luck. In that moment, I expected to be sliced apart, but found myself surprised when he grabbed me by the waist and lifted me up. I was even more surprised when I couldn't kick or punch him in retaliation. To make matters even worse, I was getting drowsy and sleep threatened to take me.

A sleep spell. Powerful one at that. Somehow, this ugly grinning asshole managed to put me under his spell, without me noticing it. I would be impressed, if it was anyone other than this demon and my death wasn't imminent. 

What to do? What to do?

I used Occlumency. The mental art of magically closing one's mind would not counteract the spell, but it would slow down its effect and give me some time to try breaking it. Luckily, I had an idea how to break it. Not a good one, but not a bad one either. Let's just hope my opponent cooperates with me. Fingers crossed.

I looked at the dreadlords black beady eyes, so full of malice and smiled as wide as I could, trying to project a look of amusement and disgust. The same look a bigoted pureblooded witch would level upon a muggle beggar. I don't know if he saw something in my expression or not, but I proceeded with my hastily made plan. I collected as much as I could, and with everything I had, I spit in his face and laughed. 

My laugh turned into a scream of pain, when the dreadlord snarled in rage. The nails on his thumbs, which were placed on my abdomen under my breast, extended and pierced my skin. The sudden shock of it, coupled with the pain was enough to pierce through the fog overtaking my mind, thus breaking the spell. 

The intense pain of his claws inside me, replacing the previous drowsiness, made my body act on instinct. Instead of breaking his hold over me, or kicking him away, I grabbed his shoulder and head and in an instant brought him close and I buried my teeth in his throat. More pain followed, as the nails inside me jostled and my mouth burned from demon blood. Quickly, as fast as I could, I ripped out a piece of his throat and pushed him away from me. He fell down, clutching his gushing neck, as the dark red blood gushed between his fingers. Ignoring my own stab wounds, I went towards him, towering above his bleeding form. Dreadlords were cunning creatures, cowardly and slippery, willing to use any means necessary in order to accomplish their goals. No matter what. And I was pretty sure survival was among those goals. So I won't be leaving anything to chance. I concentrated my magic in my hands, using a spell unique to vampires to lengthen my already sharp nails. They grew, thin and long as my forearm, sharp enough to rend flesh. My right hand, with nails joined in a singular tip, jabbed into his torso, piercing through the crack left in his armor by my bombarda earlier. My other hand went above the collar of his armor, just below the point where his neck was attached to his torso. He gurgled something intelligible, blood leaving his mouth, and I watched as his body convulsed below me and he disintegrated into nothingness. 

Cancelling the spell, I collapsed sideways on my back, next to the now empty armor. 

It was not meant to be however. 

My painful breathing and the sight of the rocky ceiling of what I suspected was a cave cruelly reminded me that I was not only injured, but in an unknown location who knows where. 

No rest for the wicked.

I got up, and free from the fighting at the moment, I took a look at my surroundings. A cave system, with an unfamiliar architecture and giant thorny roots of all things. I was on a platform of some kind, surrounded by cave walls on one side and a bridge on the other one. Purple jagged symbols littered the floor in a shape of a circle, with four straight lines of said symbols leading towards the center of it. It was most likely the base of a ritual that brought me here, a costly one if the piles of skulls nearby was any indication. 

I sighed. Things were not looking good for me. Injured, in an unknown location and, excluding my wand, literally nothing on me. Speaking of my wand, I summoned it to myself, and used scourgify to clean myself from the dust, followed by an aguamenti, which made a small stream of clean water I aimed at my stab wounds. The last thing I wanted was for an infection to take hold. 

That done, I made a simple plan of action. First, to bandage my wounds. Second, to get out of this cave and find out where I was. Third, to find out as much as I could about the demons here.

That in mind, I walked towards the green skinned creature that assisted the dreadlord and that I killed. Seeing him in a puddle of his blood made the burns on my back ache. I almost forgot about those. I reached his body, and with careful motions of my wand, cut away his robe into strips. Those strips I cleaned and transfigured together in one long bandage, which I wrapped around myself, covering the stab wounds. Task number one, completed. Yay me. 

Now for the getting out part. 

The only way to go was across the bridge, from where I assumed the greenskin came. So that's the way I went. Slowly, in case there were enemies ahead, I crossed the bridge, and found myself on another platform of sorts, which had a spiraling path leading downwards and was surrounded with a low, stone fence. Most importantly, it was a camp. A brazier, dozens of chairs, tables and weird looking open tents were all over the place. There was something, hoverer, that gave me pause. Something that changed everything.

Books. Tons of them. They littered the place. Books and scrolls and sheets of paper filled with unfamiliar language. With demonic text, if the jagged symbols, so similar to those used for the ritual, were any indication. A goldmine of information. Information that could be used to combat the legion. An opportunity of a lifetime. 

With a new spring in my step, which pulled at my wounds a bit but didn't deter me, I acted. I looked around, near those weird open tents, that looked more like a headcover, and at one of them I found a leather bag filled with empty vials and some herbs. Dumping it all out, I scourgifyed it and weaved some more magic into it. An extension charm, making it bigger on the inside so it could hold all the documents that were here. That done, I summoned every book and scroll I could see into the bag, and collected sheets with my hands. When I finished with that, I looked around some more, hoping to find some clothing I could use. Being nude in a hostile place was not something I enjoyed. My search unsuccessful, I cut away two large square pieces of the tent, and transfigured them into a black loose pants and a black shirt. Dressing up, being done with this place, I took the bag and went down the path, ever so slowly.

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

As I walked down the path, I couldn't help but notice that my surroundings showed more signs of habitation. Magically lighted braziers, skull ornaments, skull piles and tons of lighted candles. It made sense in a way. The dreadlord were the generals of the Burning Legion, but they were also a secretive bunch. Very cunning and slippery, it wouldn't surprise me if the dreadlord I killed holed himself up in the end of this cave and had a ton of his followers serving as fodder from the entrance towards him. The fact that he was second to die was nothing but ironic, and well deserved. 

Yells interrupted me, as I reached the end of a path. There was a stone fence in front of me, high enough to reach my chest, that stretched to the sides and downwards, forming yet another two short paths. Lowering myself to my knees, and wincing from the pain in my torso, I hid myself from the voices. No matter which path I took, I would have to confront whoever was on the other side of the fence, and judging from what I was hearing, there were three of them. 

I took a deep breath, and slowly peeked over the stone fence. I was in luck. The voices belonged to another greenskin, older than the one before, and two succubus's. One succubus, with dark tone skin** who wore red leather underwear and nothing else, was standing several feet ahead of the wall underneath the fence, standing next to some kind of an altar straight ahead of me, with her back facing me. She was cheering as the other succubus dodged the shadow bolts the old greenskin sent her way. I guess they were in the middle of a practice session. Too bad I would have to interrupt them, as the only way out seemed to be the tunnel*** on the other side of this grand room.

Not one of them was in the position to see me, and they likely weren't expecting an attack coming from where their boss was. I had to act, and do it quickly while they were occupied.

I vaulted on the fence, quickly and silently, crouching on the edge of it, my legs tense and ready. I sent a freezing spell at the dodging succubus, and immediately after that sent a strong bombarda at the greenskin mage. At the same time, the succubus's body was locked in place and the greenskin's head exploded in a shower of gore. I wasn't idle however. As soon as I launched the second spell I jumped off the edge, nails extended once again. When the spells connected, the succubus close to me turned towards me, just to have her chest pierced by my nails. 

Three deaths, just like that. Correction. Two deaths. The succubus I froze was still gasping for air. She was dodging the shadow bolts from the mage earlier, and after I froze her, one connected. Guess it wasn't enough to kill her. I corrected that with a cutting charm to the neck. 

With the room cleared, I went on ahead. The tunnel I entered spiraled upwards, wasn't very big and had lots of bones and skulls hanging from the top. The amount of skulls I've seen so far was not something I wanted, nor could I afford, to think about right now.

When I reached the end of the tunnel, I stuck to the shadows and peeked out of it. I was in for a surprise. Mages. There were mages here, each one dressed in a robe and each one accompanied by a demon. But what surprised me was what they were. One mage was a female looking humanoid with dark blue skin with large pointy ears and pointy teeth. Another mage was a yellow-green skinned humanoid male that didn't even reach my hips. He had big ears, big nose and a very wide mouth. There were two other mages I could see, male and female respectively, that resembled the greenskins I encountered recently.

Unease settled in my gut. I have fought the Legion before, was in fact one of the most prominent fighters in the invasion. I knew them. Knew the types of demons, their tactics and how they operated. I knew them, and because of that, how to fight them. What I also knew was that I wasn't arrogant to believe I knew everything there is about the Legion. 

The two greenskins I killed before? I didn't know what they were, just pegged them as unknown species of demons and moved on. 

But this? Another two unknown species? 

Something was very, very wrong. I needed to get out of here. Needed fresh air, to orient myself and contact someone. I needed to do it fast, because there was a tiny, traitorous fragment of my mind whispering that I wasn't on planet earth anymore. The idea of it was ridiculous, wholeheartedly insane and fucked up on so many levels. I would like to say that it was an impossibility, but I just couldn't.

Alien and demons were considered fantasies and stories on Earth, myths and legends written in books and made into movies, an entertainment. That is until we got a two in one package deal that rained green hellfire from the blue skies above.

I shook my head. Now was not the time. I can think as much as I want once I'm safe and away from this place. 

Right now, I had eight opponents to go through. Four mages, two imps, a succubus and a felguard. Should be easy enough, especially with the element of surprise. Not wanting to get it damaged, I placed the bag on the ground and prepared myself. The felguard, orange skinned and very muscular, was physically the toughest enemy here. A good distance away, I aimed at him from the shadows, channeling magic at the tip of my wand. 

With enough magic gathered, I sent the most powerful cutting charm in the form of a wide red crescent line aimed at his torso. 

I didn't wait for the results. As soon as I launched it , I burst out of the tunnel, sending a small stream of fire at the pint sized mage and a piercing hex at his succubus companion. At that point, the other two green skinned mages started throwing their shadow bolts and fire bolts at me. 

Dodging them and running sideways as they continued to throw bolt after bolt, I decided to start throwing firebolts of my own. For some reason, these mages remained standing still as they casted their spells, so mine connected with ease. The small explosion my firebolts produced knocked them away when they were hit, with the added bonus of lighting them on fire. 

Satisfied, I turned towards the fourth mage, the blue skinned one that had a felguard companion, only to find her dead.

It seems my initial spell was wide enough that it caught both of them. She was cut so bad she almost got bisected. I almost felt sorry for her. Almost. She did hang out with demons after all.

I inspected my work. Felguard and mage, both dead. Two imps and their mages, dead and burning. Succubus and her mage, dead and missing.

What?

Looking around in panic, I heard him before I saw him. He discarded his burning robe and was running away in his underwear. I couldn't let him get away and alert others. I sent several piercing charms at his fleeing form, and due to the distance and his small size, only two connected. They had no effect whatsoever. Curious, I repeated the motions, achieving the same result. Fuck.

He was getting closer to running away, and was too far away from me to reliably hit him with a stronger spell. Even if I did, it's not a guarantee it would work. I had to get close, right now. 

I raised my wand, and concentrated on the spot ahead on his path. After several seconds of concentration, my body burst into smoke, dark and mesmerizing. The stream of smoke launched lightning fast and coalesced to form my body in front of the fleeing mage. I wasted no time in using all of my vampire strength to smack the sole of my foot directly into his forehead. 

The loud sickening crack, very much like the sound of a branch snapping, coupled with the fact that his body flew away over fifteen feet away was a good indicator that he won't be causing me any more trouble. 

With that done, I bent over, breathing harshly and hissing in pain. My stab wounds were getting worse by the minutes, and using spells like my last one, which were taxing on the body, did not help. Especially if the said body was injured.

Getting my breathing back to normal, I straightened and hissed as I tightened my bandages with a spell. Another spell and the bag with the looted documents launched itself towards me. 

With the bag over my shoulder, and a wand in my hand, I started walking once again, hoping I was close to the surface and that I won't succumb to my wounds.


	2. Chapter 2

I leaned my back on the wall, and with the grace of an exhausted woman; that is none at all, I groaned and went down, legs and arms spread out and my head tilted backwards, resting on the rocky surface.

An hour has passed since I've arrived here. More or less. An hour spent skulking around in shadows, fighting unknown mages and demons alike. Assassinating, to be more precise. Most of my targets were hardly even aware they were in combat before they died. Those that are do not get a chance to recover from the shock of surprise before they too fall down. I make sure of it. 

Objectively, maybe it does seem cruel of me to do that, perhaps even wrong. To snuff out so many lives, many of them not even realizing they were about to breathe their last breath. 

Personally, I knew, hell the entire world knew, wizards and muggles alike, what the demons were capable of. Their maliciousness, their cruelty, their appetite for chaos and the destruction they caused are all etched into any survivor's memory. 

In mine as well.

That was why I didn't have any hesitation or doubt when facing demons. Nor towards those in league with them. These mages I encountered so far might be unfamiliar to me, their species different from any I've seen, but they allied themselves with these monsters, and that sealed their fate in my eyes. They deserved to die and I would keep my head high and sneer down at anyone who questioned my decision.

Personal feelings aside, I really should get up and make my way out of here. The twin wounds on my abdomen were flaring with pain every so often, and I was starting to suspect something important got nicked inside. As I had no education in healing, and no knowledge in first aid besides bandaging, I had no choice but to walk it off until I'm in a position to find a healer. 

Easier said than done.

Getting up, I cleared the dust on myself with a wave of my wand. So far, the path ahead was simple and linear, rooms and hallways with one entrance and one exit. Getting into the next one, I found that it was lengthy and sloped upwards, with more bone ornaments decorating the top of it. 

The next room I entered was certainly… unique in its design. Wide and circular, shaped like a dome, it had rows and rows of lighted candles placed in a circle around the center. At the center of the room, a rectangular stone altar, with crimson red blood sliding down the sides. Stale blood as well, I deduced, as the scent of it reached my nose. Atop of the altar a victim laid on his back, the first human I've seen in this place, his body bruised and beaten. 

My thoughts screeched to a halt, as I noticed the air towards the right shimmer. Someone was there, invisible to the point that my vampire eyesight was barely enough to detect them. I took a step backwards, then threw myself to the side as I heard something to my left. Landing on my ass, I managed to see the spirit of the man from the altar, armed and translucent, as he finished the swing that almost cut into my flesh. He swung again, overhead towards the ground. I barely managed to avoid it, awkwardly parting my legs and letting his sword hit the ground, before I used a spell point blank to knock him back across the room. 

Laughter, wicked and evil and so full of joy, erupted within the room, before there was a loud, sharp crack and my thigh flared with pain. I yelped, more from the shock of the action than the actual pain, and watched as the air shimmered, showing another succubus. This one was bare, if you ignored the small metal armored panties she wore, had bloody hands and mouth with an expression a mix of the cat got the canary and Christmas came early.

I swiped my wand at her quickly, just in time to affect the end of her whip, making it crack in the air and most importantly, not hit me. She repeated the motions, and so did I. Every attack with her whip was countered with my wand, crack after crack sharply echoing between us. She let out a laugh as the spirit approached me, ready to strike me down. Between the whip, and the sword that was about to strike me, I chose the whip, sending the spirit flying away once more. 

Still on the ground in a half raised position, I turned towards the succubus just in time to get a whipped on my wrist. The sharp pain and the impact of the hit sent my wand flying away from me. Sending a quick, but weak red coloured curse meant as a distraction, I tried to summon my wand back to me. I watched as she dodged with a giggle, before the whip glowed purple and she struck me across the chest.

Pain. 

It was the only thing my mind registered in the moment. The impact of the magically enhanced strike hit me so hard it knocked my breath away. I was on the ground gasping like a fish out of the water, my hand patting my chest in an attempt to restart my breathing. I just managed to get some semblance of it, tiny amounts of air entering my lungs, when I felt a weight on me. 

She stepped on me. With her hooves. One on my abdomen, the second further up, below my breast, and then the first one joined it. Right on my stab wounds. It felt like I was being stabbed again, the pressure of her hooves robbing me temporarily of my breath and making black spots appear at the edge of my vision. 

This demonic bitch actually stepped on me. I will take her down if it's the last thing I do.

I watched her above me, as she spoke to the spirit that came towards me again. Persistent, I'll give him that. She sent it away with a few words unfamiliar to me, before she crouched, focusing on me. Looking into her gray eyes, I was reminded of Bellatrix Lestrange, amusement and cruelty dancing in her eyes as she committed atrocities. This creature on top of me trailed her claw like finger above my breasts, where the whip hit me. Shifting in place, she froze as I hissed and groaned in pain. She shifted once again, and when I groaned, her face seemed to split into a smile.

She started rocking her hips back and forth, motions slow and sensual. Each shift in her weight caused a fresh wave of agony through me, something she very much enjoyed. I tried to dislodge her with my body, to raise my hands and push her away and kill the bitch, but the pain was too great and distracting, leaving me at her mercy. 

She stopped after a while. Instead of talking, useless as though it may be, she made sounds in the back of her throat as she seemed lost in thought. When she reestablished eye contact with me, she made a sound not unlike a moan.

In my eyes, it happened in slow motion. Her eyes went down, away from my own. Her tongue snaked out, making a circle as it moistened her lips. Her finger rested against my sides, trailing softly upwards. Cold dread settled in my gut, the realization of what was happening bringing everything in a razor sharp focus.

No! Just…. fucking no. I refuse to have it happen to me. I put every ounce of strength in the effort to lift my arms. They felt like dead weights by my side, refusing to budge. A sob forced itself out of my throat, and I thrashed as I felt those disgusting pointy fingers knead my breasts through the transfigured shirt. I screamed as my nipple was pinched and twisted harshly, I screamed even when my hand found itself wrapped around this cunts throat. I was shouting something, my mind not even registering what it was as I shifted and slammed the creature in my grip on the ground. I kept shouting, unintelligible sounds coming from me as I slammed the succubus head on the floor over and over and over again.

I kept doing it even as the sharp cracking sounds turned into wet squelching ones. I didn't stop, not until the spirit appeared in front of me, and even then I only switched targets. I knocked him down on the ground and was on top of him before I even thought about it, my claws buried in the oddly solid like mass. 

I destroyed him. No better way to describe it. I ripped him apart in pieces underneath me until he shuddered and dissolved into nothingness. Whether he deserved such a fate or not, I didn't know. I couldn't bring myself to care at the moment to be honest.

Right now, I allowed myself to feel. Anger, fear, disgust, shame for allowing myself to get molested. I cried. Sobbed really. The spasms in my chest that got sent with each sob were accompanied by a wave of pain, but I ignored it. 

I needed a moment for myself.

A moment to process my emotions and get it out of the system, so to speak. Doing it right now; might not be the smartest choice. Or the safest one. But I needed it. Merlin how I needed it.

Few minutes later, as I recovered a bit from my emotional outburst, I got up on my feet. With painful motions, I took off my transfigured shirt. I snuffed out a few dozen of the candles with my wand, then summoned the over. With another wawe, I transfigured the lot of them into small ice cubes, which I rolled inside my shirt. I took the makeshift ice pack and applied it to my upper chest, where the ugly block of purple bruising was already forming.

Next, I walked around a bit. The succubus laid dead, her head smashed and cracked open. The circular edges of the room had nothing of importance, save for more candles and bones, even a few braziers. Nothing unusual for this place. I walked towards the altar. The body on top of it was a man, features identical to those of the spirit I fought. 

The body, in an obvious difference to the spirit, was bruised and broken. Dozens of cuts were all over him, along with bruises and bitemarks. This man went through a lot of pain, mixed with pleasure it seems, if the succubus and a bite on his crotch was any indication. That could have been me, if I didn't manage to overpower the succubus. Tortured and raped until the demon got bored and ripped my spirit away from my body. 

A very gruesome fate. One amongst the many caused by the demons.

I sighed, thoroughly exhausted. It was time to move on. The ice helped with the bruise, although not a lot. Getting rid of the ice, I put my shirt back on. I need to move if I'm going to survive. 

That in mind, I summoned the bag with the documents towards me. I usually leave it at the entrances to these rooms, as an extra safety measure. I certainly wouldn't want to have it destroyed by a stray spell. 

Another walkway, and I reached the largest room so far. Two large sections with high stone fences, separated with putrid water filled with slimy blobs. As if this day couldn't get any weirder.

The path seemed clear to me, as I observed the layout of the room. Go ahead through the demons and mages, down and left through the hole in the fence to the water below. Then fight through the slimes almost all the way until I reached the other hole in the fence, where I could walk up to the other section of the room. 

I snorted. No way I'm going to take the long way around. Making sure I wasn't seen by anyone, I went to the left, towards the tall fence, almost as big as me, and I climbed it. It was hard and painful, but in doing so I saved myself some valuable time and energy. Times like these make me appreciate my height, not that they appear very often.

I dropped down, and continued.

The other side was vast and open, with two tents nearby and a single felguard patrolling. One spell later, and I was alone here. As I walked towards the end of the room, I could help but notice the architecture. It was the first room so far that had intact structure. Several of them, in fact. A few columns of stone adorning the walls, arched in the shape of the moon, with the same carved on one of the stones. 

Very curious, but unimportant at the moment.

I ventured ahead through another walkway, until I reached some boulders and an open hole in the ceiling that had lighted candles at the edge. I decided against climbing upwards, for safety reasons, and went towards the tunnel ahead. The tunnel was shaped into a spiral that led upwards towards the room with the same hole. My precaution turned out to be needed, as I came face to face with another succubus. 

She started to shimmer away, disappearing before my very eyes, but I was having none of it, and sent a wide cutting spell. One more down for the count, and once again I was on my way. 

The next room proved to be a surprise as I entered it. Although it was the same as any other, it was curiously empty, aside from the feminine figure in a cage. Looking closer at her, she looked fit, with defined muscles. She had long, vibrant blue hair and large pointy eyebrows that defied gravity. She also had big pointy ears and two blue markings on her face that went from her forehead, over her eyes and ended on her cheeks. Her skin tone was the most surprising feature to me, a pale shade of purple. Not human, not in my opinion, but quite attractive, if you ignored all the filth she accumulated in her captivity.

Captivity meant she was an enemy of the legion, and every enemy of the legion was a potential friend of mine. 

I casted a spell on myself, a complex translation charm that let's the user understand most of the languages, with some exceptions like parseltongue. 

I approached the cage, a wooden construction locked with a giant iron padlock that reached just a bit above my waist. Looking at it, it didn't look sturdy at all. Looks can be deceiving however, as the cage appeared to be magically reinforced. 

Priorities first.

I knocked on the cage, a rapid one two three that woke up the prisoner. She groaned and I waited as she looked through the bars of the cage at me , then watched as she trailed her eyes slowly upwards, craning her neck to look at me through the roof of her cage.

"By the light of Elune." she gasped out.

I smirked in amusement and gave a slight wave with my fingers. "Hello. Can you understand me?" 

"I-uhmm, I can. Yes I can." she stammered out.

Ah. Finally something good.

"Look, I'm not going to hurt you." I told her, trying to ease the tension. She was nervous and slightly trembling, what's with being a prisoner and all that, and I'm fairly certain that being woken up by someone like me isn't a relieving experience. "I would just like to have some of my questions answered. Care to assist?" 

"I don't know. I don't know you and I don't know whether you are one of them. There is no way I will talk." she said. 

I watched her, mind processing. She was in a sitting position, her knees hugged towards her chest and head tossed back, resting on the bars and looking at me. She was afraid, there was no hiding that, but there was a lot of defiance I could see in her.

She won't be telling me anything. No. She doesn't want to tell the enemy anything. 

I just needed to prove I'm a friend.

"Very well then."

I refocused on the cage itself. If I am to unlock it, I would need to do one of three things. Get the key for the lock, disable the magical reinforcement or bypass it somehow.

Lets see. 

I took my wand and cast an unlocking charm on the door of it. It failed, as expected, but the attempt made me see the protective magic in action, as it flared with my attempt. The source of it seemed to be on the underside of the floor of the cage, or on the ground beneath it. No way to reach it, unfortunately.

I tapped my wand on my lips as I thought on the matter. I can't disrupt the source of the magic if I can't reach it, so that leaves me with the key or bypassing the magic. To find a key in this cave would take too long, a time I didn't have, so I am left with one option.

The question is how do I bypass it? Hmm.

I used another unlocking charm at the door. The protections flared again.

"What are you doing?" the woman asked.

I used another. There was a pattern I could see. And exploit. 

With a plan in mind, I prepared myself. My wand was in my right arm, and I raised my left arm, extending my claws, which made the woman yelp and cover in the corner.

Once more, I used the unlocking charm. I waited for a second, then used my claws to cut through the one edge of the roof. I used another, waited a second, then used claws. I repeated the motions two more times, the end result a hole in the roof of the cage. 

Retracting my claws and tucking my wand behind my ear, I reached into the cage, lifting the woman by her armpits out of the cage.

I held her at an arm's length, literally, while she watched me with her jaw hanging open. I made sure to stretch my lips as wide as I can, winking at her before I gently lowered her on her feet.

"There you go."

"What?" she asked. Or stated. Her tone was so incredulous I couldn't tell the difference.

"Look, lets try it this way. My name is Helena Black." I said. 

"I'm Arko'narin" she replied, after a few moments and a raised eyebrow for me. A shy one it seems.

"Good. Good. Now, let me tell you a quick story. You see, I was having a bath." I told her. "A hot, bubbly, relaxing bath, very needed one mind you. And then, suddenly…" I smacked the top of my right hand in the palm of the other, making a sharp sudden sound that made Arko'narin jump. " I was summoned here. Just like that." I combed my fingers through my hair, frustrated. " I've been fighting demons and mages ever since I got here, and you're the first person I've met that can give me some answers".

"Allright." she said, wringing her hands. "How about an answer for an answer? I want to know some things as well."

I smiled at her. Arko'narin might be shy, and timid to a point. And yet, not a pushover. I can appreciate that.

"Might as well. Me first. Where are we?" A question that was very important to me right now.

"Shadow hold." she answered. "Or Jaedenar, as it was once called." 

While it was nice to know the name of this place, it didn't really tell me where it was. I shook my head "Give me the location, the continent were on." 

"Felwood, on Kalimdor." she narrowed her eyes.

Fuck. I paced, running my fingers through my hair. Fuck fuck fuckitty fuck. The earlier suspicion I had was outright confirmed right now. But still.

"This isn't planet earth, is it?" I asked.

"Planet earth?" Arko'narin watched me wide eyed. "This world is Azeroth. Are you telling me you're from another world?"

"I'm afraid that is the case." 

"Wow. Okay. My question now." I stopped my pacing, giving her my full attention. Fair is fair. "Are you human? You look like one, sure, but appearances can be deceiving."

I narrowed my eyes. It was a question all too familiar to me, and was often asked sarcastically or as an insult. Arko'narin's question was just that, a question.

"I am." I started. "I had some things happen to me that made me the way I am right now, but that doesn't change the fact I am human. Your turn. You are the first of your kind that I've met. What are you?" 

"My people are kaldorei" she straightened proudly, " one of the oldest and wisest races in Azeroth. The other races refer to us as Night elves." 

Huh. Oldest and wisest. A bold statement. Something I will be sure to remember.

"Now you." She tilted her head in the direction where I've come from. "You came from the deeper parts of the den. Have you perhaps seen my friend? He's human, shoulder length black hair, thick mustache."

Fuck. The body on the altar and the spirit that attacked me. 

"He is dead." I told her bluntly. "I saw his body on the way. If it's any consolation, the succubus that killed him is now dead as well." 

She winced, teary-eyed and I squeezed her shoulder in sympathy. Losing a friend is a gut wrenching pain all too familiar to me. So I stood there, my hand on Arko'narin's shoulder while she wept silently. A silent comfort.

"Thank you." she said after a while. " For telling me and …." she trailed off, gesturing towards my arm. I just nodded. "It's your turn now to ask a question."

"Very well. Can you tell me where the closest settlement is where I can get a healer?" I asked. 

To my pleasant surprise, instead of answering, Arko'narin stepped back , making my arm fall from her shoulder. She slowly trailed her eyes over my body, starting from my feet and ending on my head. Her expression was hard and calculating, a far cry from the one moments ago. 

A look of a soldier.

"Where is the injury and how bad is it?" she asked. Demanded really.

"Abdomen, below my breasts. Two small but deep stab wounds, probably hit something important interbally." I told her. The commanding tone surprised me so much I answered before I even thought about it.

"How much time do you think you have?"

"I don't know. Few hours. What's going on? What are you planning?" I asked. Letting her take the initiative was all well and fine with me, but I wasn't the type to follow someone blindly.

"You said your name is Helena, right?" I nodded. "Well Helena, we are going to recover my gear, and then I am going to escort you to the Emerald Sanctuary where we can get a healer to take care of you. How about it? You helped me, now let me do the same."

Damn. It looks like there was more to this night elf than I thought. Standing tall, straight-backed with eyes full of fire and conviction as she stared at me, she was a far cry from the shy and timid person I thought I met in the cage.

Quite the welcome change, if rather unexpected.

So, as we stood there staring at each other, she full of conviction and me gauging her, I came to a decision.

"Very well. Lead the way." I said, suppressing a smile as my decision made Arko'narin beam at me.

She started walking towards where I came from, and I followed even if going backwards was the exact opposite of what I wanted to do. Finding her gear and having another fighter with me will more than make up for it. 

"How fast can you move with your injury?" Arko'narin asked me.

"As fast as you need." I replied. My wound may act up if I walked fast or started running, but it was nothing I couldn't grit my teeth through.

She started running then, in a measured pace that increased her speed but wouldn't tire her, and I followed. Not by running. No way. My legs were so long and my usual steps were big enough that I only needed to walk faster in order to match her pace. 

We travelled in silence. I didn't know about her, but I had no need to fill the silence with small talk, especially with my life on the line. 

Much to my relief, our journey backwards was a quick one, as we arrived into the big wide room with the slimes. 

"There it is." Arko'narin said, pointing at the tents I passed by earlier. Sure enough, there were two chests that were covered with some kind of cloth in there. 

She opened the chest and started putting on the armor inside. Steel pants and boots, followed by a belt and a breastplate that looked like a steel tanktop to me. Shoulderguards were next, small but bulky, and the last thing she put on was the gauntlets that went up to her elbow. 

She looked good, I realized. Like a warrior. A competent one. The steel looking armor covered almost all of her, with the exception of upper arms, the upper chest and her head. 

She paused for a bit, her face a mix of emotions. Right as I was about to ask what was wrong, she opened the other chest and took a sword from it. A magical sword. It was big, clearly meant for two-handed use, and it glowed yellow. The yellow magic that is infused into the sword was something I never felt or seen before. 

"This sword, Lightforge, belonged to Trey." Arko'narin said. "It feels wrong to just leave it here."

"I'm sure he wouldn't mind his friend using it to defend herself." I told her.

"Right." she replied. "Lets go. I don't want to be here longer than necessary." 

I nodded, and we retraced our footsteps. To my amazement, the sword and armor did not hinder Arko'narin's movement. Not even a little bit.

We found ourselves back at the room where I freed her, with Arko'narin pointing towards the nearby passage.

"That way is the exit. We are not actually that far from it." 

"Oh?" I inquired. " How much do we have till the surface?"

"At the end of that path there is a spiral walkway that leads to the surface. Reaching it and the surface shouldn't be that hard."

"And after that? When we get to the surface? What's the plan then?" I asked. I didn't know anything about the outside area, this Felwood she spoke of earlier. Whether I liked it or not, I had a better chance of survival by relying on Arko'narin guidance than venturing on my own, but that didn't mean I would follow her without knowing what to expect. 

"On the surface, we fight what we must." she answered. "There are lots of warlocks and demons outside, far more than there are inside. Fighting all of them is not an option. So I propose we run past them."

"Run past them?" I repeated. A dangerous option, one that I would need a good explanation for if I was to attempt it.

"Yeah. I know it sounds crazy, but it's the best one available. We cannot sneak by with all the warlocks out there, and we can't fight them. What we can, however, is get to my nightsaber. She is strong enough to be fast even with the two of us, and agile enough to dodge the spells thrown her way." she said confidently. "And I noticed you're a mage as well with that wand of yours. Maybe you have a spell that can aid us?" 

I pinched the bridge of my nose, trying to comprehend what I heard. 

She was right, I knew she was. I just didn't like it. At all. We would be riding on this nightsaber, whatever it was, and dodging spells. Wonderful. Not that I could come up with something better in this state. The severity of my injury prevented me from using any kind of teleportation, and much of my advanced spells. 

Speaking of.

"I have a spell that could shield us from an attack." I told her. "A barrier charm. Should block a hit or two."

"Good. Let's go."

"Lead the way." I gestured with my arm.

And so we went, she with the sword in her hands, ready to strike, and me behind her, ready to blast anyone I saw.

Travelling through the passage, we did just that. Eight mages in total, or warlocks as Arko'narin called them, were slain one by one with their demon companions. Arko'narin proved herself to be quite the swordsman. The way she charged at her opponents and cut them down was quite impressive. And attractive, I admit. 

Our journey to the surface was going well, and we were almost to the walkway when we heard something. Soft sounds of something hitting the ground and snarling. And they were getting louder. And closer. That something turned to be the legion hounds.

"Fuck!" I swore, as the hounds came into view. 

They came from the walkway, from the surface, charging at us. Five of them. Red scaled, with horns protruding from the top of their front legs, sharp wide jaws and two whiplike tendrils on their backs. I absolutely hated them. 

Arko'narin charged at them, swinging her sword from below in an upward arc that vertically split the head of the first hound. Two hounds stayed to fight her, while the remaining two sidestepped her and charged at me.

I sent three piercing hexes their way, and cursed my stupidity as they absorbed the magic sent their way. I sidestepped the one hound as it lunged at me, and I managed to extend my claws just in time to pierce the second hound that lunged at me as well. 

I dislodged the hound from my claws, letting it drop to the floor. One down, one to go.

I dropped to my knees, pitching forwards, barely extending my arms to keep myself from hitting the floor with my face. My arm shook violently from the strain, threatening to give out at any moment. Tears formed in my eyes, an involuntary reaction as I dry-heaved. 

There was a warm arm rubbing circles on my back. My bare back. I bit my lip. Have I mentioned how I hated the hounds? 

Slowly and carefully, I stood up after a few moments and almost fell back down due to the pain in my abdomen. Almost. The only reason I didn't was because Arko'narin was in front of me, with her arms outstretched, holding me in place by gripping the upper curve of my hips.

Embarrassment coursed through me. I was naked as the day I was born, held upright like a helpless child unable to stand on its own, all because of the fucking legion hound that absorbed and feasted on the magic in his surroundings. 

Serves me right for forgetting that little fact.

Now I had to suffer the consequences. The hound that lunged past managed to devour the magic in its surroundings, before he got killed by Arko'narin. He got a nice chunk out of me, which is why I was on the ground practically out of it. He also managed to devour the magic keeping my clothes transfigured, and with the lack of magic, they reverted to their original form, leaving me naked.

"Hey! Are you okay Helena?" Arko'narin said, shaking me back and forth a bit.

"I'm fine." I said. "I'm not. Not really. Just give me a moment." I corrected myself after she shot me a look of such disbelief. After all the shit that happened today, and now this? I was not fine at all. 

"You are bleeding." she said. " We need to take care of it. I'm assuming you used some kind of magic to create bandages and clothes. Can you do it again?"

I nodded, summoning my wand from the floor. With practiced motions, I once again transfigured the pieces of cloth into bandages and clothes. 

Arko'narin's hands left my sides, hovering for a bit in case I was unsteady on my feet. Ever so slowly, I bandaged myself tightly and put my pants and shirt on. 

It was embarrassing, being incapacitated so easily and stripped naked in front of a stranger. Being embarrassed didn't stop me from being grateful however. Both for saving me, and for not making it weird. She didn't stare, did not comment, she just accessed the situation and dealt with it.

"Thank you." I said softly. 

"Don't worry about it." she replied. "Here. You dropped this." 

She handed me my bag, and my mind screeched to a halt. It was intact. Peering inside, I could see everything I collected was still in its place. It didn't make sense. It was on me when the hound absorbed my magic. The enlargement charm on it should have been gone, and the papers scattered all over the place. 

I didn't understand. Why wasn't the bag affected? I didn't have the time now, but I swear I will find out what makes this bag special later, when I'm safe. For now, I put it over my shoulder and focused. 

We were almost out.

"I'm ready to continue." I told Arko'narin.

"You sure? We can wait for a bit." she offered.

I shook my head. "I'm sick of this place. The sooner were out the better."

Once more, we ventured forth. 

True to Arko'narin's words, The walkway spiraled upwards. What she failed to mention, or probably didn't take into account, was that the walkway would be small for me. 

I was forced to bend my legs and keep my head low just to travel through it. 

Arko'narin, bless her heart, didn't comment on my predicament, although I swear I saw a hint of a smile tugging on her lips when she glanced back.

Whatever.

Thankfully, the walkway was empty and we didn't have any surprise attacks thrown at us, and soon enough, we reached the end of it.

The end, or rather the entrance was a stone construction which had steps leading down into the grass.

We were finally out, and Arko'narin bounced in place with joy. My mood, however, darkened as I surveyed the sunlight. It was supposed to be dark. It was evening last I checked, and there was no way the whole night passed since I was summoned…

I pinched the bridge of my nose.

Right. Different world, different time.

Fuck. Of all the things I've been dealing with so far, avoiding sunlight wasn't something I wanted to deal with. 

Too bad reality was a cruel mistress, and I just happened to be fate's chewing toy.

"Hey." I called out, making Arko'narin turn towards me. "Do you know what a vampire is?" 

"Vampire? Never heard of it." she glanced over her shoulder, watching outside. "We need to go. I really don't want to be found in the open."

"Okay. Let me put it this way. I'm a human that got turned into a vampire. That comes with certain strengths and weaknesses. One of which is burning under the sunlight." I admitted.

"You burn in the sunlight?" she hissed at me. "Don't you think you could have mentioned that earlier?"

I started to answer, but was interrupted. Rude.

"Do you need to wait for the night? Or do you have a solution?"

I snorted. Like I had the time to wait for the night. Several waves with a wand modified the transfigured clothes. Sleeves extended into gloves, pants legs extended into socks and a large hood grew out of my shirt. As a precaution, I fused the shirt and the pants into one. The end result was a black something that was in between being a wetsuit and a onesie.

A fashion disaster, but a working one.

"This will work," I told her, putting the hood over my head. "at least for a while."

"Good. Anything else I should be aware of?"

"Not at the moment. Lead the way." I told her, and we stepped into the light.

And it sure was a sight to see. We were in what appeared to be a tight narrow valley that got wider the further it spanned. Steep grassy hills surrounded us, a terrain too rough to travel across. 

"That way." Arko'narin pointed at the right and ran with her sword ready. I ran after her, looking at the encampment we were approaching. Several high and open tents surrounded what looked like a shallow stone well devoid of water. Several warlocks and demons were up and about, and they started shouting and throwing spells at us. There were even two greenskins among them that were equipped with big bulky armor and massive axes. They wasted no time in charging us.

I sent a piercing hex at the one of the warriors, making him stumble right in time for Arko'narin's sword to slice him. She didn't even slow down, evading the other warrior and the spells sent her way as she ran towards the warlocks. She was a force of nature, shouting and cutting through her enemies like they were butter.

The other warrior continued his charge at me, all wide eyed and frenzied, and made no effort to dodge the first spell I sent his way. I shook my head at the sheer stupidity of it as he fell over, and went to assist my partner.

I sent three cutting spells at the three imps that were preoccupied with casting their firebolts to notice me. They too fell down and the encampment was clear. Except for the big tiger like animal chained behind one of the tents. That must be the nightsaber she talked about.

It was big, had silver fur and looked like an oversized tiger. Except for the huge fangs it had. 

It looked very dangerous. 

And that notion was promptly thrown away as Arko'narin slid to her knees and started cooing and cuddling with the thing and it acted like a kitten.

I couldn't help but smile, as the scene reminded me of Hagrid and Fluffy.

"Helena, meet Elera. Elera, say hi to Helena." she introduced us. 

A small roar was sent in my direction, which made me awkwardly wave back. "Hello."

Awkward introduction done, I sent an alohomora to unlock the chains connected with Elera's collar. "You're welcome. I guess?" I said after she roared at me once more.

"We need your help Elera. My friend and I need to escape this place, and we can only do it with your help. Can you carry us both to safety?" she asked. A roar was her response, and she beamed at the animal and kissed her head.

"I knew I could count on you." And with that, she mounted the nightsaber. She patted a spot behind her. "Come here."

I went towards Elera and threw my leg over her body, sitting behind Arko'narin. My soles were touching the ground, so I had to bend my knees to keep my legs off the ground. 

It was embarrassing, how something so simple as my size could be such an inconvenience to both myself and others.

"Helena."

"What?" I asked.

"Grab onto my waist and hold on with your legs. This is going to be a bumpy ride. Try to use those barriers you mentioned earlier. Otherwise, just hold on. Are you ready to start?"

"Yes." I answered, snaking my left arm around her waist, keeping my right one free for casting spells. "It's now or never."

"Go Elera, as fast as you can." And with that, the nightsaber started walking, picking up speed until she was running faster than a horse. 

It wasn't long before we were seen. Spells from the side and from the back were thrown at us as we passed the different encampments. They missed us, but the sheer amount of them were enough for the further camps to take notice. 

Soon enough, we had spells coming at us from all sides. And true to her word, Elera was able to weave and dodge between the spells that were too close to comfort. A whooshing sound I heard, too close for comfort, and I swiped my right hand, creating a translucent barrier that broke as it absorbed the green firebolt.

I used another. And another. One after the other. Elera was slowed down with all the dodging she was doing, and I had to cast more barriers as a result. A wave of guilt manifested within me, as I couldn't help but think that she would have been much faster if she wasn't carrying my heavy ass around.

Something slammed into us violently, and my vision darkened as intense nausea overtook me and my whole body erupted in pain.

I panicked. 

I couldn't see. Couldn't feel anything but pain. Couldn't think.

But my body acted.

I threw the body I was holding in my arm over my shoulder and I ran forward.

I ignored the pain. Ignored the fact my insides felt like they were falling apart and the way my body burned. 

I had to get away. Away from the danger.

I ran, with all the speed a vampire with legs this big could achieve.

I ran, until I couldn't ignore the burning in my lungs.

I ran, until darkness overtook my mind completely.

I ran, and collapsed.


	3. Interlude: Arko'narin

Arko'narin's stomach hurt. Being starved for two days like an animal would do that.

That was the least of her worries. 

She was trapped in a cage, in a cultist infested cave that once used to be the barrow den of the druids. 

She shivered, the cold air licking her skin and making the hairs on her body stand on end. They stripped her of her armor, her equipment, and left her locked in a cage with nothing but her undergarments. 

She knew why. 

Her cage was near to the entrance, and while the cave was not a crowded space, unlike the surface, it did have cultists and demons walking by. 

So far she had been subjected to dozens of lewd gestures and taunts of what would happen to her later. She would like to say that it didn't affect her, that she could let the words wash over her and be just that. Words.

Unfortunately, she knew better than to think nothing would happen to her. 

A succubus that introduced herself as Rakaiah came sometime yesterday, and had two grunts drag away her friend and fellow prisoner Trey Lightforge. And while he was dragged kicking and shouting deeper into the den, Rakaiah stayed. 

In a sweet, husky voice that was more fit for a bedroom that anywhere else, she promised to come back. The way she caressed herself, the way she licked her lips before biting the lower one and unashamedly stared at Arko'narin's crotch made it perfectly clear what would happen to her. 

It made her stomach churn, and there was a pit in her chest that made her feel cold and empty, a pit that grew and grew as time passed.

The fact that this predicament was her fault only made her feel worse.

She had her knees up to her chest, and she buried her head in them, ignoring everything. She had to rest as much as she could, preserve as much strength as she could to prepare herself for what laid ahead for her.

She spent hours like that. Hugging her knees and ignoring the activities outside her cage. Footsteps came and went, each time making her heart race wildly, so much so that she could hear it.

She was afraid. Plain and simple. She couldn't deny it. 

She was going to be tortured here. Raped, certainly. And there was nothing she could do about it. Couldn't think about anything to do. She thought that the older and more experienced sentinels would know what to do in this kind of situation. 

She wanted to laugh. The other sentinels would not be foolish or stupid enough to venture out into enemy territory like she did. They wouldn't have been captured in the first place, she thought bitterly.

Time passed, and she rested. Yet another sound of footsteps reached her ears, and her heart started racing. Like the other times, she didn't move at all. 

With sheer force of will, she relaxed her body and evened out her breathing, trying to feign sleep. She hoped that the owner of the footsteps would pass, that they were not here for her. She hoped they would pass her by with an insult like the others.

It was not meant to be.

The footsteps came, slightly louder and louder as they came closer, before they abruptly stopped.

They were here for her.

She didn't have a chance to process, to think about her next step when there were sharp knocks against her cage. 

It was the beginning of the end of her life. She groaned, and opened her eyes.

Red painted toes. That was the first thing she saw outside of her cage. The cultist was barefooted. She trailed her eyes upwards. And upwards. And upwards some more.

Long legs with big thighs. Wide hips and narrow waist. Very gifted chest and a sharp face with a smile and bright amber eyes staring right into her.

"By the light of Elune." she gasped out. She couldn't help it. The woman was massive. Ridiculously so. The top of her cage didn't even reach the woman's breasts. But she shook off her surprise and prepared herself for the inevitable. 

What happened next gave her some semblance of hope. 

Helena Black. A supposed human claiming to be from another world. Who claimed to be summoned from another world. A woman that was injured and dying, looking for a healers aid.

It didn't take long to believe her. 

How could she not? 

After hours and hours of despair and dread and certainty of death, hope was a welcome balm to her soul.

She hoped. And reasoned with herself.

The woman freed her. After she brushed off Helena's questions, thinking it was some kind of ploy to divulge information to the enemy, Helena freed her.

She bypassed the magic on the cage somehow, using her wand and scary looking claws to cut away the top of the cage.

Being plucked away from the cage like a baby in the crib was not something she would forget.

The small game of questions was what gave her hope however.

Helena was supposedly from another world and didn't know about kaldorei. She claimed to be a human, that something made her the way she was right now. She was willing to let it go at the moment. She ignored the part of her brain that reminded her she couldt do anything right now even if this woman was her enemy.

She asked questions and was asked in return.

She learned the fate of her friend Trey and wept for him.Trey and her had their disagreements, but no one deserved such a fate.

When Helena grabbed her shoulder gently to offer comfort, she was already convinced.

When Helena asked for the closest settlement and a healer, she was certain the woman was telling the truth.

Arko'narin's mind was made up at that moment. She gave herself two missions. First, to escort Helena Black to the Emerald Sanctuary and save her life. Second, to inform her people of activities in Shadow Hold and the fact they had a visitor from yet another world. 

Determination flew through her veins, and she focused, bringing every scrap of seriousness to the forefront of her being. 

She took charge. And was relieved when her new companion accepted it without a single complaint. More evidence that she made the right choice and that Helena was genuine when she asked for help.

They retrieved her gear, passing a few dead demons on the way. It felt wrong to take a dead friend's weapon, but pure logic prevailed and she took it anyway. It was better than her own, and it was of no use to him now that he was dead. 

They made their way back, and she devised a plan of escape. Elera, her nightsaber, was their best chance of escape. Their enemies were too numerous to fight, and they couldn't sneak by since there was only one entrance to the small narrow valley. 

And so they went. She unleashed the anger and rage at her enemies that was building up underneath her fear all this time.

Then the felstalkers came charging. To Arko'narin, they were just another type of demon to be slain, but her companion proved to be a different matter entirely. 

One of the hounds managed to drain away Helena's magic. If Arko'narin hadn't thrown her sword at the beast and impaled it, it would have taken a bite out of her throat for sure.

It was her turn to offer comfort by rubbing circles on the giant woman's back as she dry heaved. She heard from the priestesses of Elune that having your mana drained was very uncomfortable, and she was sure Helena's injury only made it worse.

She also wanted to ask why the woman was suddenly nude, but humans were a prudish race compared to the kaldorei and she did not want to embarrass her. Besides, she could put some things together on her own.

Helena did mention she was having a bath when she was summoned here, and the scraps of cloth that were underneath her and weren't before indicated that she could change them into clothes with her magic. At least she thought so.

Arko'narin's theory was proven correct when she coaxed Helena up to her feet and asked her whether she can create clothes. 

They proceeded to the surface, and Arko'narin felt happy to reach the surface. She was not happy however, to learn something new about her companion.

A human turned into a vampire, whatever that was. That burned in the sun. Burned. In. The. Sun. Just wonderful.

Irritation got the best of her, and Arko'narin snapped a little, hissing at her. Luckily for her state of mind, they did not have to wait for the nightfall in order to proceed with their escape, what with Helena using magic to extend her clothes into a hood and gloves that covered her skin.

She managed to locate her nightsaber chained in a small camp and they made quick work of the enemies. Her reunion with Elara was short but sweet, and she knew that she was as starved as she is.

They mounted up and started with the final part of the escape.

Elara, her sweet and trusted nightsaber, was good at weaving and dodging around spells thrown their way, but no amount of skill was enough when you had sheer numbers working against you.

With the way they were going, most of the attacks were coming from behind. By the time those ahead of them were alert and ready to cast spells, they were already past them. But the warlocks were relentless, running after them throwing spells their way.

The further they went, the more warlocks they had at their heels, and more spells to dodge. 

Soon enough, there were too many spells to dodge. Fortunately for her, Helena was a mage and managed to create a translucent barrier that blocked spells that would hit them, letting the rest pass them.

A sudden impact shook Arko'narin to her very core, and time slowed to a crawl around her. 

They crashed to the ground, her sword flying away from her grip. Wideeyed, she watched as a felstalker had Elara's throat in its jaws, biting into it, the tendrils on its back lashing in the air. 

Her pet was dead. Her nightsaber, a companion of over fifty years, dead. Fury gripped her heart, blazing hot as she patted the ground trying to feel her sword, her eyes never straying from the horrible scene in front of her.

A hand on her waist, before Helena picked her up and threw her over the shoulder.

Helena ran, and Arko'narin was furious.

"Let me go!" she shouted, as the image of her nightsaber became smaller and smaller in the distance.

"Let me go!" she repeated, tears streaming down her face. She trashed in Helena's grip, desperate to go back,to pick up her sword and carve up the beast and everyone she could see. 

She couldn't get herself free. Her body over Helena's shoulder, she could no longer see her nightsaber, or anyone else for that matter.

"Let. Me. Go." She pounded her fist on Helena's back, each hit accompanied by a word. Still, Helena didn't budge. Did not stop running away.

She hated her at that moment. Everything about her. Her stupid height, her stupid attractive body and her stupid sizzling skin.

Sizzling skin? What?

Helena's voice echoed in her brain.

I'm a human that got turned into a vampire. That comes with certain strengths and weaknesses. One of which is burning under the sunlight.

She stared, transfixed at Helena' lower back and butt, her naked back and butt as the skin sizzled in the sunlight. 

She could hear the sizzling as well. And Helena's panting. Her anger and hatred left her as quick as they came, and she took stock of their current situation. 

They managed to escape their enemies, as they were nowhere in sight. All thanks to Helena's quick thinking and fast running. And it was fast. 

A few months ago, Arko'narin witnessed two druids competing in a race around Darnassus, to see which one had faster travel form. She remembers being awed by their speed, but it was nothing compared to this. 

Helena's legs stomped on the road as she ran ahead like a woman possessed. Her feet stomped on the ground so hard she wouldn't be surprised if she left indentations of her feet in the stone road. The trees around them were almost a blur to her eyes.

Almost. 

What concerned her was the burning skin and the heavy breathing she heard. Helena was struggling. Hard.

"Hey." She called to her. "You can stop now."

There was no response.

"I'm serious." She said. "You need to stop. I don't like the sound of that breathing."

No response.

I repeated myself, over and over again, and still she ran. I apologized to her, for hitting her and yelling at her, and still she ran.

Still, I kept trying. I didn't know how long she ran, but the burning skin was getting more intense by the minute and her breathing resembled that of a person on their deathbed.

It wasn't looking too good for her.

At least she was running south, and if she kept following the road, we would reach the Emerald sanctuary at some point.

Or not, I corrected myself as I felt our momentum decreasing. Gradually, Helena slowed down, but before she could completely do that, she collapsed.

As soon as Helena collapsed and her tight grip loosened, Arko'narin got up on her feet. 

She grabbed the unconscious woman by her waist and dragged her away from the cobblestone road, away from the sun shining down from the above into the protective embrace of the shadows. 

The effects were immediate.

As soon as the naked, unconscious body of her companion was not in direct contact with the sunlight, her skin stopped burning and producing that awful sizzling sound.

Placing Helena's body on the ground in the shade, she proceeded to examine her.

She was, thankfully, still alive, evidenced by the rise of her chest. Her skin was blotchy and red all over, angry looking and rough. The stab wounds she had on her abdomen seemed larger than before, when Helena was first incapacitated by the felstalker. Running that fast was what probably irritated the wounds and made them worse. 

What surprised Arko'narin, was that Helena still had the leather bag strapped over her shoulder. Something important must be in there, for her to clutch to it like that. She was tempted to snoop around in it, but decided against it. 

She wasn't the kind of person that did those sorts of things.

She scrunched her brows.

Right before her very eyes, Helena's skin was getting clearer and healthier. Regenerating. It wasn't long at all, maybe a minute or two in the shade before her skin was back to her usual pale and pristine look.

'Huh. She can regenerate the superficial damage done to her from the sun, but not the wounds that threatened her life. What a strange ability.'

Arko'narin shook her head. Now was not the time. Helena saved their lives with her mad dash for freedom, and she paid the price for it.  
If she didn't get a healer soon, Helena would die, there is no questioning that. 

She wouldn't let that happen. She was a kaldorei and a sentinel of Darnassus. A life depended on her. She would give every last bit of her strength to save a life that saved hers.

It's the least she could do right now.

She picked up Helena's giant and rather heavy body and placed it across her back and shoulders. Helena's hand and feet fell bonelessly at her sides, and it took careful positioning on her part to make sure those large limbs didn't touch the ground below. Her right hand was placed just above Helena's knee, and her other gripped her arm on the other side.

Satisfies that Helena was firmly secure on her back, she set out in a measured pace towards the Emerald sanctuary.

The trek was a painful one. In more ways than one.

Helena was heavy. Her massive size alone guaranteed that, and she wasn't exactly skin and bones. There was a lot of meat on her bones, and her… very generous womanly assets certainly didn't make it any easier. She was sweating like a pig not even ten minutes after she started running. Granted, she had her mail armour as well, but still. 

An errant thought flew across her mind and she shuddered. She didn't even want to think about how heavy Helena would be if she had a body like one of those fat nobles she had misfortune meeting in Stormwind.

She had to avoid the road as well. Not only was it illuminated by sunlight completely, since no trees were near the road to offer shadows, there was always a chance of running into a member of the Horde. Even though Felwood was somewhat of a neutral-ish territory at the moment, they were easy targets right now and she wouldn't put it past the brutish Horde to attack them on sight. 

So she had to stick to the trees and shadows for the most part. It was impossible to reach their destination completely staying in the shadows, but she made sure to speed up when they had to be directly under sunlight. 

And as much as the trek was physically tiring, it was even more emotionally draining. Guilt ate away at her, it's poisonous jaws nibbling away at her piece by piece. 

It was her who told Trey the Shadow council settled into Jaedenar, it was her who let herself be persuaded by promises of adventure and recognition, she who should have known better than to go into such danger with only one ally, without informing the officials. She let Trey convince her, that was all on her, and now both Trey and Elera were dead.

Because of her. And now a third person could be joining that list.

Despite her best effort, she was failing in her task. Her back hurt and her arms shook from the strain of carrying so much weight, and she felt like her legs would give up on her at any time. 

The forest wasn't making this easier as well. Outside the path, there was lots of uneven terrain and tons of shrubs that impeded her movements slightly. 

She carried on regardless. 

She hoped that with all the bad luck and suffering she endured these last few days, that Elune would smile down upon her and make things better. 

And smiled upon her she did.

Because after a while, she spotted a figure walking on a path. A man. White long hair and bushy unkempt beard, the man wore a simple black robe with a gnarly staff that was more like a tree branch on his back. It was not until she saw the lion insignia on his plain black belt that she approached him. 

Lion meant Stormwind, and Stormwind was an ally.

Ally meant help.

"Excuse me, sir?" Arko'narin called out, running from out the cover of the trees towards the man on the road. She grimaced as she stepped into the sun once again and the faint sound of sizzling started again, but she couldn't exactly leave Helena behind defenseless. 

She thought she heard a muttered oh my from the man as he turned and spotted her approaching him, but she wasn't exactly sure.

"Elune-Adore" she greeted him. She continued before he could open his mouth. "Can you help us? My friend is on the verge of death and you look like a capable adventurer. Please, do you have a healing potion to spare?"

"Ah." He murmured. "Sadly, I do not." Arko'narin heart plummeted at that. " I do however, have something even better." He added quickly. "A portal."

"A portal?" She repeated dumbly. No way they were that lucky. But the old man smiled and stepped away, turning sideways and drawing his staff.

"I am always happy to help a fellow member of the alliance, especially if it means saving a life." he told her. 

Arko'narin didn't know what to say. She opened her mouth, intending to give her name and ask for his before thanking him, but a surge of power interrupted her.

The old man charged his staff and brought it to the ground. He made motions with his arms, expertly carving a symbol on the ground in front of him. A triangle, with a perfect circle inside of it that touched all three sides and a straight vertical line that went from the top of the triangle and through the center of the circle.

The symbol flared to life, and true to his words, a portal shimmered into existence atop of it.

"Thank you." The word came on their own. What else was she supposed to say? Rut'theran village, the port of Darnassus laid ahead of her. "Thank you." She repeated.

"I.." 

"Should go." the old man interrupted her firmly. "Your gratitude is received and noted. However, I am afraid your partner over there doesn't have much time. She appears to be burning."

"Shit." Arko'narin swore.

"Go already." the old man said.

"Thank you, once again" she said, as she forced her tired body to move through the portal. 

Finding herself in the Rut'theran village, at the base of the world tree Teldrassil, she ran uphill until she reached the sentinels that guarded the portal to Darnassus.

As soon as she was within earshot, she straightened as much as she could with a body on her shoulders and brought her right fist above her left breast, a typical kaldorei salute.  
She barked out her name and identification, as per procedure, before she explained herself.

"My companion is gravely injured, and in need of immediate medical attention. I need to get her into the temple of healing right now." Arko'narin finished. 

"Follow me." one of the sentinels told her. 

The two of them, alongside another sentinel, went through the portal into the capital. The other sentinel mounted a frostsaber as soon as they arrived, and sped off towards the temple.

"Nylina went off to notify the healers of our arrival." the sentinel that told her to follow said. "Mount up if you think the woman's injuries can handle the ride, if not, we walk." she hesitated, before adding. "I just have to ask, is there a reason she is burning?"

"She burns in the sunlight." Arko'narin replied, exasperated. 

"She what??" was the incredulous reply.

"I don't even know. She burns under the sunlight and regenerates said damage outside of it. Her regeneration doesn't seem to apply to other injuries, hence the need for a healer." she explained as she placed Helena's body face down over the nearby frostsaber. 

She mounted the frostsaber, sitting behind Helena's body, keeping it steady. With a simple command , they were off towards the temple.

Arko'narin's sentinel companion thankfully seemed to sense the mood and didn't ask any more questions.

It didn't take them long to reach the Temple of Healing. It was located at the edge of, and technically was a part of a much larger Temple of the Moon.

When they arrived, sentinel Nylina was waiting for them, and without a word helped carry Helena up the marble steps into the temple. 

She followed Nylina guidance as they went not into the many rooms that the temple had, but towards the interior garden filled with beautiful plants and several statues of priestesses. Under one of said statues, there was a marble altar that was waist high and was used for prayers and occasional emergencies.

Like this one is. 

Arko'narin was not surprised to see two priestesses waiting for them, but she was when she saw a human among them. 

Grey-haired and with wrinkled face, his dressing style was faintly similar to those of the priestesses. He wore clean white robes, similar to the gowns priestesses were known to wear, but their gowns looked light and free with minimal accessories whereas his robe looked heavy and imposing, taken to an extreme.

As we approached, I looked at Nylina. 

"The man you see is Bishop David." she started in a low voice. "He is an… ambassador of sorts, from Stormwind. Their Catedral, actually. He is here to study the differences between our priestesses of Elune and their priests that follow the light." She averted her eyes and her ears dropped. "I apologize. I barged in the temple and explained the emergency in front of him. He insists he should be the one to heal the patient since she is a human."

"As long as she lives, I'm okay with it." Arko'narin shrugged. 

They arrived at the altar, greeting the gathered priests. They carefully positioned Helena's body on the altar, and Arko'narin had to suppress a snort as Helena proved to be too big, the result being her calves dangling off the edge. Absent-mindedly, she took Helena's bag for safekeeping.

"This has to be the biggest woman I have seen in my life." the bishop stated, trailing his across Helena's body.

Arko'narin took a step back, letting the healers do their work.   
One of the priestesses took Helena's hand in her own, gently trailing her thumbs over it. "She seems to be healing on her own." she stated in a gentle voice, twisting her head to look at Arko'narin. 

"Her skin regenerates itself, her wounds do not." Arko'narin answered the unspoken question as Helena's skin once more regained its pale pristine look.

The priestess nodded, and took a step back as we all saw the bishop's hand glow with yellow light. He brought the hands down on Helena's stomach, and Arko'narin couldn't help but be surprised as he jerked his hand away abruptly, his face a mix of rage and disgust.

"You want to heal this creature?" he snarled, and Arko'narin tensed at his tone.

'Something is wrong.' she thought. 

"She's an abomination." he continued. "An evil creature of dark magic." he snarled again. "The light won't allow it."

His hands glowed again, brighter this time, and Arko'narin started to move. The disgusted tone, his enraged face and the mad glint in his eyes as he looked at Helena screamed enemy in her head.

All of them moved towards him. Arko'narin was relieved that she wasn't the only one attempting to intervene. 

But they were too late, so close but far enough that the bishop was able to bring down his filthy hands on Helena. As soon as they made contact with her body, she arched her back and screamed in pain. 

It was a sound Arko'narin wouldn't forget anytime soon. And she certainly wouldn't forget what happened after. 

The very ground beneath their feet seemed to shudder back and forth. The very air around them was filled with something ethereal, raw, and powerful. It froze them all, even the bishop. It wasn't anything physical that did it, just the sheer presence of power. 

Then they noticed the shadows. How could they not? 

The temple interior garden was vast and open, designed to be completely cast in shade for most of the day, but right now, the shade darkened to the point that Arko'narin thought she was standing among the stars themselves.

Amidst the darkness, a white light. 

All of the statue's eyes glowed bright, like stars in the night, and she gasped. Arko'narin felt as if those eyes could pierce right through her very soul, judging her soul. 

Comotion nearby shook her out of her daze. The others didn't seem to be stupefied like she was.

'Or,' she thought, 'they are able to work through it.' 

The sentinel Nylina had a glaive pressed to a Bishop's throat and was already dragging him out of the garden. 

The two priestesses were hovering to the either side of the altar, casting and healing Helena while they threw hesitant glances every so often towards the nearest statue. 

She followed their glances and saw the marble crescent moon glowing as well, casting moonlight on the altar they were working on.

'Mother Moon wishes were clear as they could be.' 

And the only thing Arko'narin could now do, was to ask herself: why?

She had a feeling she would not be getting an answer to that for a long, long time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, that was that.
> 
> The plan for this fic is to write mostly from Helena's pov, and to add interludes from other characters pov every once in a while.
> 
> On another note, I have lots of notes concerning future events in this fic and characters that will be involved with Helena.(And even more that I've discarded for various reasons). If you have ideas or wishes for some area or event or a character to be involved in this story, be sure to let me know in as many words as possible. I don't promise to necessarily put it in the story, but I would like to know, and you never know what's in store up ahead.


End file.
